The present invention relates to generally to special purpose tools and, more particularly, to a tool for manually removing and/or installing bushings and/or bearing sleeves from automotive transmission components and other machinery.
During a transmission overhaul, engine rebuild, or other similar repair procedure it is often necessary to remove and replace original equipment manufacture (hereinafter xe2x80x9cOEMxe2x80x9d) bushings and bearings within major components, which support rotating shafts and assemblies. Typically such OEM bushings and/or bearings are pressed into a machined bore or recess at the factory to provide an interference fit. Once installed such bushings are difficult to accurately remove and replace without the factory tooling.
As a result such components are often damaged by mechanics using a makeshift tool causing damage to the bushing or the mating component. In the alternative, the worn bushing or bearing is left in place leaving excess clearance with the mating shaft and resulting in a substandard repair.
Numerous bearing removal tools or so-called bearing pullers for extracting bearings and/or bushings from machine housings are known in the prior art. One example of such a tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,041 which discloses a sleeve bearing puller including a pair of expandable and contractable half cylinder-shaped extractors and an expander mandrel between the extractors for grasping the bearing in response to a pull on the mandrel.
Another example of such a bearing removal tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,460 which discloses a bearing puller having a unique eccentric headed bolt and locking wedge such that when the eccentric head of the bolt is lockingly engaged to the bearing by means of the locking wedge and a wedge jam nut, the bearing is readily extractable by applying a load of sufficient magnitude to the bolt.
Another bearing removal tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,208, which discloses a split-nut, blind hole bearing puller made by using an elongated split nut with a bearing flange, which is assembled with the blind hole behind a bearing. A retainer fits over the assembled split nut so a puller bolt can be screwed through the assembled split nut into the blind hole to extract the bearing.
Other known prior art bearing extraction tools include U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,600 B1 to Benoit; U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,279 to Shoup; U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,775 B1 to Sarver et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,593 to Savastano; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,403,434 to Calabro.
While these devices fulfill their particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a bearing removal and installation tool, which is constructed in the manner of the present invention or which is as simple and inexpensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a special purpose tool, which will facilitate removal and installation of bushings and/or sleeve bearings from press fit bearing housings of the type found within automotive engines, transmissions, and other machinery with no resultant damage to the housing. The present tool is comprised of a cylindrical body member including a pilot diameter, which aligns the tool in coaxial relation to the bushing and a locating journal that supports the bushing to be removed. A plurality of machine screws are disposed within mating threaded holes in the body member at predetermined radial positions corresponding to the interface of the locating journal and the bushing. To remove a bushing the machine screws are advanced axially within the threaded holes such that the machine screws cut partial mating threads into and capture the worn bushing and/or bearing sleeve for removal by an applied force. The present tool also provides an installation function being utilized to manually set new bushings into position using a suitable tool.